Garratt refereed his last game of 1st class rugby last weekend – the Championship Final of the ITM Cup in Palmerston North. We caught up with him at the end of a busy week to get his thoughts on his career.
Garratt played rugby for Paraparaumu, and in his own words “was too slow and too fat to make anything of it. I probably thought I was a better player than I was. I was always driven to do something in rugby, and it took me a while to realise that playing wasn’t going to cut it.”
… And then came refereeing …
Garratt started in 1997 with the only association to which he has belonged, Wellington, and made Premier panel in 2003, and then National panel in 2005. From there he refereed his first 1st division game in 2007, and first Super Rugby fixture in 2009 (when he turned professional).
Asked about Ranfurly Shield matches
GW: “I find it very hard to explain. There’s just not much better than this. I feel honoured to have been in control of six log of wood challenges. These matches mean so much to everybody, the closest thing to test rugby. Nobody cares about bonus points, it’s all about winning the Shield.”
Asked about Test Rugby.
GW: “I remember the torrential downpour of rain in the tests I’ve refereed. Other than that I ran touch for many of the best referees in the world.
I was an assistant referee for 5 tests to Craig Joubert. Craig’s a gentleman, a good team man that makes you feel included, trusts you to do the job, truly professional and most of all a wonderful friend.
Also had the privilege to run the line for Wayne Barnes once – yes this is the same Barnes that’s not NZ’s favourite relative at all. I would’ve been subs controller in Nelson for the RWC 2011 fixture between Italy and Russia, and Steve Walsh the assistant referee. Steve called in a sicky which gave me the opportunity as assistant referee. After the match in the changing room, Wayne Barnes told everyone to keep quiet and presented me with his very own RWC tie (only RWC referees and assistant referees were allocated a RWC suit and tie). Wayne’s a real classy man – he simply doesn’t care if you’re a junior referee or a top international referee, he treats everyone with the same level of dignity and respect.”
Asked about the least memorable game
GW: “2006 – MSP vs Petone @ Petone Rec, score 25-25. I was terrible. Tana Umaga played #12 for Petone. Tana gave me a real serve at full-time, so I made the effort to have a beer with him afterwards. We chatted about my 2nd year in the national squad and Tana told me about his 2nd year in the All Blacks how he took everything for granted. Tana supplied me with some ideas which was a turning point in my professional career.”
Asked about his most memorable game, he was unable to keep it to one.
“Semi-final Hong Kong 7’s in 2008. England playing Samoa and there were about 50,000 expat English fans in the crowd. England scored from one end of the field to the other in the dying seconds of the game to win it. I felt that the roaring of the crowd was about to sink the island.”
“Lions vs. Sharks at Ellis Park. Lions were completely at the bottom of the table while the Sharks needed to win to compete in a semi-final. When the Lions won that day, I felt as if he’d been given the keys to Johannesburg that evening.”
“Manawatu vs. Hawkes Bay (ITM Championship Final). It was just a phenomenal game of rugby. Having the support of my whole family there made it the perfect swansong.”
During the interview, Garrett’s humility is the one thing that was really inspirational. The only thing he asked for was for 2 very important people to be acknowledged:
Jill Williamson – “She single-handedly raised the kids allowing me to focus on Rugby. She was always there – for the good and the bad times.”
Neville Mcalister (Garrett’s coach) – “He just sees the game completely different. He opened my eyes to more than Rugby, but also about myself.”
He was also thankful for the support of the WRRA where it all really started.
Where to from here:
- He would like to give back to the game which gave him so much
- But most importantly, give back to his family …
Referee for the game and personal gain will come.
Referee for personal gain and the game will suffer.
Garratt Williamson (2014)
